Commemoration of the Holodomor, the artificial famine in Ukraine (1932-1933)

P6_TA(2008)0523

B6-0571, 0572, 0573 and 0574/2008

European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2008 on the commemoration of the Holodomor, the Ukraine artificial famine (1932-1933)

The European Parliament
,

– having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

– having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

– having regard to the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,

– having regard to the Joint Statement issued at the 58th Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly on the 70th Anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine, which was supported by 63 States, including all the (then) 25 EU Member States,

– having regard to the Ukrainian Law on the 'Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933', adopted on 28 November 2006,

– having regard to the statement of the President of the European Parliament on 21 November 2007 marking the start of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor famine in Ukraine,

– having regard to the Final Statement and Recommendations of the Tenth Meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, adopted on 27 February 2008,

– having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are basic principles on which the EU is founded,

B. whereas the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide criminalises a number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group,

C. whereas the Holodomor famine of 1932-1933, which caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, was cynically and cruelly planned by Stalin's regime in order to force through the Soviet Union's policy of collectivisation of agriculture against the will of the rural population in Ukraine,

D. whereas the commemoration of crimes against humanity in European history should help to prevent the occurrence of similar crimes in the future,

E. whereas European integration has been based on a readiness to come to terms with the tragic history of the 20th century and a recognition that reconciliation with a difficult history does not denote any sense of collective guilt, but forms a stable basis for the construction of a common European future founded on common values and a shared and interdependent future,

1. Makes the following declaration to the people of Ukraine and in particular to the remaining survivors of the Holodomor and the families and relatives of the victims:

a)

recognises the Holodomor (the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine) as an appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity;

b)

strongly condemns these acts, directed against the Ukrainian peasantry, and marked by mass annihilation and violations of human rights and freedoms;

c)

expresses its sympathy with the Ukrainian people, who suffered in this tragedy, and pays its respects to those who died as a consequence of the artificial famine of 1932-1933;

d)

calls on the countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union to open up their archives on the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 to comprehensive scrutiny so that all the causes and consequences can be revealed and fully investigated;

2. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government and Parliament of Ukraine, the Secretary-General of the UN, the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.